5 months Pregnant, Male Cat Peed on Me & the Bed

Question
I'm currently about 5 1/2 months pregnant, and I've had my male (neutered) cat for about 2 years. I rescued him from hoarders, where he was in a very bad situation. I had a problem with him peeing on my first bed, when I first got him, but I think that was a territory issue with a female cat in the house. He also repeated the behavior when I was gone for a few days, even though my roommates were home.

My husband and I got married in July of last year, and he and my cat have always gotten along. There is also a male dog (also rescued and neutered) that they have been buddies since the very beginning. In April of last year I had to put my female dog down, due to major illness and old age. The cat then began spraying her bed, her pillows, anything she touched. The items were removed, carpets cleaned, etc-no repeat of the spraying.

A few months ago he suddenly began "marking" his territory in front of the door that leads from our bedroom to the rest of the house. He was checked out by a vet, no crystals, he was on a special diet, words of the vet- He has boring pee. The behavior seemed to clear itself up within a few days, no repeats until this morning.

My husband got up for work as usual, I was on the computer, cat in my lap, purring, cuddling, the normal for us. Husband leaves, I go back to bed with the dog and the cat, cat comes up for some petting, and then suddenly, without any warning, leans against my legs as I'm falling back asleep, and pees on me, and the bed. Just before he got on the bed, he had used his litter box, I heard him scratching, covering, the whole bit.

He has been sneezing a lot the past couple of days, but that seems to be clearing up.

I'm just at my wits end. I love this cat, but the entire time I've had him it has been an uphill battle. I can't help but wonder if I need to surrender him to someone who can give him a better home. It's not fair to me or to him for us to go through this, especially adding an infant in a couple of months.

Thank you for your time.

Answer
Rachel,

Just out of curiosity, did your vet check your boy's white blood cell count to make sure there was no low grade infection in the bladder or urinary tract?  This can also lead to inappropriate peeing and may or may not result in crystals.  One tip is to give all your cats and dog distilled water.  This may have as good an effect as the special diet.

Anyway, it does sound behavioral to me, and I will give you a URL to read an excellent article on feline house soiling written by a vet who is also a cat breeder.

http://www.netcat.org/housesoiling.html

It also sounds as if every time you introduce a new pet, he begins this behavior again.  What you may do, when you introduce any new pet or your new baby, lavish all the established pets with treats and extra affection so they associate the newcomer with good thing.  Normally, most people pay lots of attention to the new arrival to the detriment of the established pets.  Cats and dogs DO get jealous, and one should find a way to cancel out that jealousy.  By the way, the same thing can be true of humans when an established child feels it is ignored when a new baby arrives.

In addition, cats are known to try to manipulate their human owners with bathroom behavior (just like human children try to manipulate their parents).

It may also be that he will do better as the only pet in a household.

I also assume you are cleaning things with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors.  One thing you may also try is to get a Feliway diffuser for your bedroom, this has worked to lessen neutered male and spayed female inappropriate urination in a variety of situations.

Best regards... Norm.